For decades, Toyota built its leadership on a simple principle: to offer customers a car for almost any task and any budget. However, the company's management now admits that this strategy may have a downside.
Kenta Kon, the new CEO of Toyota, who took over the company in June 2026, has launched a large-scale audit of internal processes and has already identified one of the main problems. In his opinion, the model range and the number of modifications have become too complex and expensive to manage.
In the development divisions, you can see an increase in the number of different specifications and versions.
In essence, it's not so much about reducing the models themselves, but about combating the endless number of trim levels, powertrains, and local versions for different markets.
The scale is truly impressive. In the US alone, Toyota offers 32 models, if hybrid and conventional versions are counted separately. Another 14 models are sold under the Lexus brand. And the total lineup of Toyota, Daihatsu, and Hino worldwide exceeds 100 vehicles.
The problem is that each additional modification requires separate development, testing, certification, and production organization. With rising costs for electrification and software, such complexity is beginning to directly affect business profitability.
Significantly, the strategy review coincided with a deterioration in financial performance. According to the company, Toyota's profit between 2024 and 2025 decreased by approximately $5.9 billion, and a further decline of about 20% is expected this year.
At the same time, Toyota is not going to save on technology. On the contrary, the company has already announced record investments in research and development — about $10 billion. This indicates that the manufacturer intends to reduce costs not by cutting innovation, but by eliminating duplicate projects and excessive complexity.
For fans of the brand, there is also good news. Analysts believe that individual trim levels and overlapping model versions will be hit first, rather than iconic cars. The GR sports line, on the contrary, is considered an important part of the brand's image and is unlikely to be subject to serious optimization.
In fact, Toyota is facing a problem that it created itself. A huge choice helped the company become the world's largest automaker, but now this very scale is beginning to reduce business efficiency. And that is why the largest automotive company on the planet decided to declare war on its own complexity.
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